At a gynecology clinic in Cheongju, there was a big fire of unknown cause, which almost caused a major disaster.



It was determined that there were no major casualties due to the rapid evacuation, but the mother and baby who were in the hospital at the time were swept away by the sudden fire.



A fire broke out on the first floor (open parking lot) of a new obstetrics and gynecology building (10th floor) in Sachang-dong, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, around 10:09 am today (29th).



The building consists of three buildings: the main building, the old building, and the new building.



The fire quickly spread to the upper part of the fuse.



Black smoke quickly engulfed the surrounding areas, including the main and old buildings.



There were 122 people in the three buildings (70 hospital staff, 23 mothers, 23 babies, 6 general patients).



All of them evacuated by themselves or with the help of the 119 rescue team.



The mother, who barely escaped, grabbed her chest in surprise.



A mother, who was in the new building, explained, "I felt that I had to evacuate unconditionally, so I came out of the building through the stairs holding the child."



Nurse B also said, "As soon as I saw smoke outside the window, I informed the 15 mothers who were resting in the hospital room to evacuate."




Some mothers evacuated because the fire alarm sounded just before the cesarean section.



Sprinklers inside the building were also reported to be operating normally.



The fire department said that 45 of the 122 people, including mothers and babies, were transferred to a nearby hospital.



Fortunately, there were no reports of serious injuries.



The fire department issued the first stage of response around 10:26 am today, 27 minutes after the fire broke out, and 25 fire trucks and other equipment and 60 people were put in to extinguish the fire, and the fire was extinguished in 3 hours and 10 minutes.



A firefighter official said, "Part of the main building, old building, and new building was burned down, and 10 vehicles in the parking lot were also burned."



The fire department and police are investigating the exact extent of the damage and the cause of the fire.



(Photo = provided by the reader, Yonhap News)